


No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

by Lucy_Claire



Category: X-Men (Movies), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 09:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5823400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucy_Claire/pseuds/Lucy_Claire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the midst of a battle against a common enemy, a de-powered Erik and an exhausted Charles discuss where they stand with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: 'do you ever think we should stop this?' and 'I can't let you do that' for Tumblr user mer-yan

Year after year, Charles always seemed to end up in the in one of two situations with Erik. Either Charles and his students and, optionally, the army, police or some facet of the government, ended up cornering Erik and his Brotherhood and stopping their attempts to annihilate humanity or Charles had to team up with Erik to take down a more maniacal mutant.

This time, it was a time-traveller who had this advanced technology without a hint of metal in it, and Erik was on his side. At least he hoped he was.

The time-traveller aimed his laser gun at the spot Rogue, Colossus and Shadowcat were hiding in. Colossus rose up and reflected the laser off his chest, picking up both the girls and running. Charles was watching all this unfold from behind a large boulder, lying on his side, his wheelchair tipped over and a few feet away from where Charles crawled on his elbows to get a better view.

The traveller noticed his head peeking out from behind the boulder and aimed at him, Charles tried throwing himself back and out of reach but his useless knees couldn’t rise up or support his spine. The laser came straight for his face and the door of a nearby car flew up ahead of him and took the hit for him and flew right at the traveller, the door got disintegrated by his gun before it could even touch him.

Erik came up behind Charles and helped him up into a seated position. “I see you’re awake.”

“I see you’re conveniently here once again. Hoping to use this one or his technology to aid your mission?” Charles said sarcastically. “What took you so long anyway?”

“Our new friend here seems to have studied me pretty effectively in his own time and created a chemical that stalls my powers, I was and still am somewhat useless.”

“You just tore a door off a car and flung at him, do that same thing again but from a surprising angle.”

Erik took of his helmet, shaking his head. “I’m afraid I can’t, I used whatever power I earned back to block his last attack. If you don’t believe me, check my mind.”

He wasn’t lying, for the next few hours or so, Erik was weak.

“How does it feel to be human?” Charles joked bitterly.

Erik grinned at him for the first time in years. “Terrible.”

An explosion from Cyclops’s laser vision hit close to their hideout, somehow deflected off of the traveller’s shield.

“Do you ever think we should stop doing this?” Erik asked him, gazing over the boulder.

“Stop what?”

“Fixing other people’s problems, risking our lives, saving the day, making sure people who want us dead get to live on while we die for them.”

“No, I don’t, protecting them is the only we can prove to them and to their descendants that we are no different from them, that some of us are good and some of us aren’t, that there is no true difference between us.”

“See, Charles, that’s where you and I always differ. We are fundamentally better, someone as well-versed in biology as you should know this and quit dancing around the humans’ fragile egos long enough to prove it to them, just as they have proof that they are more advanced than the common ape we are more advanced the uncommon human.”

“The luck of the draw does not make you a good person.”

Erik’s eyes narrowed. “Then what does?”

“Your actions, I suppose.”

“All the times I have helped you deal with a common enemy never seem to change your mind on whether I am a good person or not.”

Charles, who had been rubbing the sides of his forehead, willing away the headache of a dozen panicked voices filtering themselves through his mind, shrugged. “One good deed doesn’t suddenly make the ten other bad deeds magically go away. Being a good person means consistently doing more good than bad, which you seem to have an awful track record of doing.”

Erik’s infamous anger rose back up within him, he started gesturing wildly, a part of him still thinking he could crush tanks with a clench of his fist. “What is it you want me to do, Charles? Let myself be jailed in a plastic prison again? Kiss the ring of every obnoxious human head of state and the asses of all those who fear not just mutant newborns but their own shadows? What do you want from me?”

Charles caught one of his hands and squeezed it. “The same thing you wanted from me, for you to be by my side. Unfortunately, that can never be.”

Erik stared at their hands, a bit lost, his voice suddenly very quiet. “Why not? Just why not? We are both championing the right of mutants to be treated like people, to be treated with the respect we deserve, you just take the passive route and I take the aggressive, that’s how our personalities are and it can’t be helped, why can’t we just accept it and move on?”

“Because both our approaches are our counteractive to each other, Erik, why won’t you understand that?”

Erik rose up, setting his helmet back on his head. “Fine, you want approach? You want good deeds? I’ll give you a good selfless deed.”

“Erik, you don’t have your powers, I can’t let you do that — ERIK!”

Erik walked right into firing distance, not even pretending to use his powers, catching all of the traveller’s attention until Colossus could sneak up behind him. He aimed his gun at Erik and Charles’ mind finally focused on one goal and one goal only, disconnecting the enemy’s brain so he would be unable to stand or pull the trigger.

Like a puppet whose strings had been cut, he dropped onto the grass, knocked out for the foreseeable future.

Erik turned and with a few fast, long steps he was back, lifting Charles up by the shirt. “What was that?”

“Me saving your life!”

“Where do you get off, telling me to give myself for the safety of humanity and then stopping me?”

“I didn’t ask you to get yourself killed, I asked you to help now or in general not to become a fucking martyr!”

“Then what do I do?”

Charles gripped his cape. “Stay with me, do what you didn’t do the first time we had a disagreement and stay with me and we can work our way from there — just don’t get yourself killed.”

Erik nearly dropped him in shock and settled for calmly setting Charles back on the grass and kneeling ahead of him. “Do you mean it, do you truly want me in your life or is this your way too keep an eye on me?”

“Of course I want you in my life, Erik, I love you, and despite your shortcomings and issues you are my best friend.”

“Alright then, I’ll try my best for you.”

“Just try?”

Erik clasped Charles’ hand in his. “I will do my best to do right by you for once in my life.”

“Thank you.”

“I love you too, you know.”

Charles smiled at him softly. “In your own odd way, but yes, I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr!](http://lucyclairedelune.tumblr.com) :D 
> 
> Don't forget to comment! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧


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